The One That Got Away
by serendipitous-15
Summary: Some cases leave a lasting impression. Chapter 4 has an M rating for disturbing themes and imagery.
1. Chapter 1

**Not mine, just borrowing them for the time being. NCIS belongs to CBS and Don Bellisario. Also, Bodine William W High School is actually a real high school in Philadelphia.**

_Working in a field like law enforcement, medicine or social work you're bound to run into cases/people that leave a lasting impression on you and not necessarily in a good way and given the amount of time that Tony's been a cop and a NCIS agent he's bound to have a couple of cases and people that left impressions on him.  
_

_For all of those reading 'An Unlikely Friendship' that should be updated sometime this week._

_Spoilers: 3x10 'Probie', 4x03 'Singled Out', 5x07 'Requiem'_

_

* * *

_

"How'd he take it?" asked McGee looking up as Ziva left Tony's room.

"As expected," she replied wearily before collapsing into the empty seat next to McGee.

"So not well," he guessed.

"Not well," Ziva confirmed.

McGee sighed before rubbing his face tiredly. "It wasn't even an NCIS case, what was Tony thinking?"

"The doctors will be keeping Tony for the next couple of days and he was still awake when I left, would you like to see him again?" she asked, choosing not to reply to McGee's statement.

McGee shook his head. "No, I still have to finish writing my report and statement, Gibbs wants it before I leave for the night but tell him goodnight for me if you see him before you leave, okay?"

"Of course, good night, McGee."

"Goodnight, Ziva," he said before standing up and heading towards the hospital entrance, his last image of Ziva was of her looking through her cell phone contact list before finally deciding on a name.

--

"_Cover for me, Probie," Tony said before grabbing his badge, gun and ID from his desk drawer._

"_What, why? Where are you going?" demanded McGee as he watched Tony grab his coat from the back of his chair._

"_On an errand," Tony called over his shoulder._

"_What am I supposed to tell Gibbs?" asked McGee right before the elevator doors closed. "Tony!"_

--

When McGee got back to NCIS headquarters the squad room was pretty empty, only the on call team section of the squad room and a few other scattered desks were illuminated. Sighing he rested his head in his arms as he waited for his computer to properly boot up. He was so tired and all he wanted to do was go home but like the good agent he was he was dutifully typing up his report and statement for Gibbs before going home for the night. Glancing at his watch he was only slightly surprised to see that it was nearly eleven thirty, his report was nearly finished and his statement was already, he could afford to close his eyes for a few seconds, right? Before McGee could think about it some more he laid his head in his arms and let his eyelids drift shut…

--

"_Where to McGee?" demanded Ziva as she accelerated causing multiple cars to honk as she suddenly appeared in their space._

"_Turn right at the next street," he replied before frantically grabbing the side of the car as Ziva performed the hairpin turn at a totally unsafe speed._

"_Now where?"_

"_Left here."_

_The car protested as Ziva made the turn but instead of slowing down she sped up, anxious to make it to the construction site at the end of the road where McGee had pinpointed Tony's location. If Gibbs didn't kill him first then she would definitely kill him, didn't he remember what happened the last time one of them went some place without backup? Gibbs ended up submerged in a car and nearly got himself and an innocent bystander killed. The sound of gunshots greeted them the minute they pulled up and Ziva didn't have to look to know that McGee had crouched down, gun in hand as they both made their way from the car to the nearest place they could get some cover from. Glancing around the cement wall they were hiding behind she saw Tony leaning against a pillar, his left arm wrapped around his middle and his gun in his right hand still trained on another man who had a gun trained on her partner. Before she could properly formulate her plan the other man prepared to shoot Tony and acting on instinct and training she fired. As soon as the other mall fell she broke cover followed closely by McGee who ran to Tony while she kept her gun trained on the other man after kicking away his gun, her years of training being the only keeping her from running to Tony first._

"_Tony, can you hear me?" asked McGee anxiously the moment he got to his unconscious friend's side. Tony had, by then, slid down the pillar, the hand that had been firmly putting pressure on his side was now lax and blood was seeping through at an alarming rate, gun resting by his side. "Ziva, call an ambulance!" he yelled as he pressed down hard on the bullet wound. "Tony, if you die I swear…" he hissed to his partner, letting the rest of his threat go unsaid._

--

McGee shot up like a cork and looked around wildly, forgetting, momentarily, where he was. Gibbs cleared his throat to get his junior agent's attention.

"B-boss! I was…I was just finishing up."

Gibbs made no comment instead he just gestured to the coffee cup on McGee's desk, so _that's_ what woke him up. "Thought you could use it," Gibbs said to McGee's questioning look. "When you're done go home, McGee. I don't need to see you tomorrow, we're off rotation," he said before going to his desk and flipping on his own desk light.

McGee blinked before looking at the coffee cup warily; if this was coffee Gibbs' way then McGee would be better off drinking tar. Taking a hesitant sip of the hot beverage he was pleasantly surprised to find that the cup of coffee was just the way he liked it. McGee looked up to say thanks to Gibbs only find him busy at work and smiled. The two of them worked in a comfortable silence and after half an hour McGee had completed his report and after emailing Gibbs a copy he walked over to Gibbs' desk with a hard copy. The lead agent nodded and then motioned for McGee to pack up and go home.

"I thought I told you to go home," Gibbs remarked dryly when McGee made no move towards his desk.

"It's just…" McGee began unsure how to word what he wanted to say.

"If you've got something to say then spit it out, McGee."

"It's just that I don't get it," he said in a rush. "I mean, why is Tony still looking over this case? He hasn't worked in Philadelphia in ten years."

Gibbs didn't respond at first just giving him an unreadable look.

"You ever have a case that sticks with you long after you close it, McGee?"

"Yes."

"Did you ever forget it?"

McGee stayed silent unsure of how to answer that question. Did he ever forget those cases? No, not entirely just like he could never forget the metro cop. He was pretty sure that he would go to his grave remembering those cases in vivid detail.

"Now imagine how it feels to never close a case like that."

--

No matter how many times he had visited or been in a hospital McGee was certain that he would never get used to the smell of antiseptic that seemed to cling to walls. The inside of Tony's room was sterile, like all hospital rooms aside from the pediatrics and maternity ward, a vase of black roses gracing the side table. He smiled; he should have known that Abby would be Tony's first visitor of the day. Speaking of the man in question he was currently staring out the window too deep in thought to notice McGee's arrival. He sighed quietly, even though he was expecting it McGee was still troubled by Tony's reaction.

"Hey, Tony," he said as he made his way to one of the chairs. "How are you feeling today?"

"Twenty-five."

"Huh?"

"That's how old she would be today."

"Oh."

--

_The picture of a blonde, smiling teenager smiled back at Tony from the file he was currently staring at, an indecipherable expression on his face. _

"_We got a case?" asked McGee as he peered over Tony's monitor. The reaction was immediate and not what McGee expected; Tony slammed the file shut before shoving it into his drawer and locking it. "I was just wondering," he replied in answer to the cold look Tony gave him. "Who is she?"_

"_None of your business, Probie."_

--

The same blonde, smiling teenager smiled back at McGee from his computer screen. He had gotten the case file number from the file that Tony had left open and unattended on his desk the day he had run off to chase that lead. Michelle Nead, age fifteen, had disappeared on her way home from the homecoming dance her sophomore year seemingly without a trace. Volunteers and police officers had canvassed the area, handed out flyers and interviewed her friends, classmates (by McGee's count it looked like they had interviewed the entire student body of Bodine William W High School) multiple persons of interest for nearly two months before all the leads went cold. No one had ever been charged in connection with her disappearance and as far as McGee could tell from Tony's case notes and the file in the Philadelphia PD database there few viable to zero suspects. According to the notes added to the end of the digitized copy of her case file Michelle Nead's parents still called annually for updates, McGee presumed that even a decade later they still hadn't given up hope that she would be found alive. Ripping his eyes away from the picture of a smiling fifteen-year-old Michelle, McGee opened up a version of the program they had found on Lieutenant Anne Sullivan's computer, if he was going to help Tony he needed a more current picture of Michelle Nead.


	2. Chapter 2

_Since I forgot to mention it in the first chapter you should know that this takes place in season 5 sometime after 'Requiem' but before 'Judgment Day'._

* * *

The smiling face of an age progressed twenty-five year old Michelle Nead greeted Tony when he opened up her file. She looked her mother. Tony closed his eyes as he fought the rising nausea. When he opened his eyes he saw McGee typing away on his computer, probably fiddling with one of the many searches he was currently running, Ziva was busying arguing with someone over the phone in a language Tony didn't immediately recognize and Gibbs was missing. Without a word to either of his teammates he quickly got up and practically ran to the bathroom, just barely making it before he lost his lunch, breakfast and then some. After splashing some cold water on his face and getting his hands to stop shaking he reappeared at his desk no more worse for wear than he was before he had left. He was too busy trying to avoid looking at Michelle's file that he didn't see the worried looks McGee was throwing in his direction.

Tony may have thought that he managed to escape and return unnoticed but McGee noticed. He noticed how Tony's body stilled after coming across the picture of a twenty-five year old Michelle Nead and then noticed how he all but bolted from his desk soon afterwards. McGee saw how slightly pale the senior field agent looked when he silently returned and wondered if he had done the right thing. A newly aged photo of Michelle was badly needed since the version up on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was hugely lacking, unfortunately it seemed that they didn't have access to the latest morphing technology. He thought that Tony would appreciate the gesture but judging from his visceral reaction he doubted that Tony would appreciate what he had done.

--

"_What are you doing?" asked Abby as she looked over his shoulder._

"_Trying to figure out the correct parameters needed to age this girl ten years," he replied not looking up from the book on his desk._

"_Hey, I know that girl, is that—"_

"_Yes," McGee said cutting her off._

"_Does Tony know?"_

"_No."_

_Nothing was said for nearly five minutes and McGee turned around to see if Abby was still there. He found her staring at him intently with a look that McGee couldn't quite decipher._

"_Abby?"_

"_What do you need help with, McGee?"_

--

The file lay untouched in the top drawer; he didn't want to think about it right now. Thinking about it would mean he'd have to think how a decade later he still couldn't keep his promise to the Neads. Tony had never liked failure; it had been drummed into him as a small child by demanding parents that failure was just not an acceptable outcome. No matter where he worked Tony worked hard to close his cases because never closing them would be akin to failure and for the most part he closed them or put in enough hours chasing down leads and left meticulous notes that even after he left a particular department he would often get calls telling him that thanks to the notes he left or that obscure lead he insisted that he just _had_ to check out they managed to close that particular case. He took pride in the fact that the majority of the cases he worked ended up closed and he also took pride in the fact that he had managed to keep his promises to those rare individuals he met during a case. Well, he had managed to keep them until now.

--

"_Mrs. Nead, I know this is a difficult time for you and your husband but could you please walk me through the last time you saw Michelle."_

"_Of course," the statuesque blonde woman said. "It was last night, around seven last night; she was annoyed that I was fussing last minute over her dress."_

"_Why were you fussing over the dress?"_

"_She had brought that dress herself, saved up all the money she made babysitting or helping out the neighbors, she refused to show us the dress until the night of the dance. She thought that we wouldn't approve of her choice," Mrs. Nead said. _

"_Did you approve of her choice?"_

"_While it certainly wasn't my style nor is it my husband's but we did approve of her choice, it was appropriate for a young woman her age."_

"_What happened next?"_

"_We took some pictures, she told us that we were embarrassing her and then her date for the dance arrived."_

"_What's his name?"_

_"Zachery Durhan, he's one year old than Michelle."_

"_How well you do and Mr. Nead know Zachery?"_

"_Well, they've been dating for almost six months, we've met his parents, and Zachery's father works with Richard, we all approved of the relationship if that's what you're asking."_

"_What time was the dance supposed to be over?"_

"_Eleven thirty, she called us right before they left to tell us that a bunch of them were going to stop at a local all night diner before coming home."_

"_Thank you, Mrs. Nead, you've been very helpful."_

"_Please, bring her home."_

"_We will."_

--

The day had been excruciatingly slow and with no new cases they were stuck doing paperwork. As annoying as that was it was probably for the best since it was Tony's first day back to work in three weeks. No one discusses why Tony had been absent from work the past three weeks and Tony himself never brought up the Michelle Nead case or even opened his drawer once he had placed the file there. Since they had steadily worked through the paperwork backlog Gibbs had dismissed them early telling them to leave once they wrapped up whatever they were working on. Returning to the squad room McGee was surprised to find a coffee cup sitting on his desk as he got closer he recognized the logo on the cup, it was the coffee shop that Tony really liked. He smiled; maybe Tony appreciated it after all. Sitting down at his computer he logged onto the website for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and his smile got a little bit bigger as he saw that the original age progressed photo had been replaced with the version that he and Abby had worked on.

--

"_Ta-da!" exclaimed Abby as she showed the new picture on her screen with a flourish. "So, what do you think?" she asked eager to know if the fifth time was a charm._

_McGee looked at her screen and smiled. "Abby, I think we've got it."_


	3. Chapter 3

A smiling Catherine Larsen, age nine, looked out from the photograph Tony was holding, she was a pretty girl and looking at Annette Larsen Tony could see where she got her looks from. Gibbs and McGee had gone to the base to base to talk to Annette Larsen's husband, Navy Commander Steven Larsen and ask if he knew who would want to kidnap his daughter leaving Ziva and him to question Annette Larsen.

"When did you last see your daughter, Mrs. Larsen?"

"When I dropped her off at school this morning, she was going to stay later for choir practice and then go over to a friend's house, I was going to pick her up there," she replied while Tony made some notes.

"What friend was this?"

"Maggie Bird, she's in choir with Cathy and also on the same soccer team, she usually stays with them if Steven and I are working late."

Tony nodded. "I'll need their address."

"Of course," Annette said as she looked through her address book and copied down the address.

"Thank you," he said taking the piece of paper. "Mrs. Larsen, what was your daughter wearing today?"

"Jeans, a purple top with butterflies on it, a cream cardigan, sneakers and her hair was braided today."

Just then Ziva appeared signaling that she was done with her duties and Tony nodded goodbye to Annette Larsen, leaving her in the care of the NCIS agent staying with her incase they got a ransom demand.

"Where to?" asked Ziva as she started the car.

Tony wordlessly handed over the piece of paper given to him by Annette Larsen.

--

"_What time did you arrive at the diner, Zachery?"_

"_Close to eleven forty-five."_

"_Who else was there?"_

"_Um, Bobby, Alex, Shannon, Matt, Alyssa and Kevin, while we were there some other kids from the dance showed up but they left before we did."_

"_How long did you stay at the diner?"_

"_I dunno, maybe like an hour, we just went there for some dessert and ended up talking for a while afterwards."_

"_While you guys were talking did you notice anything odd about Michelle? Did she seem anxious, distracted, anything like that?"_

"_No, she was laughing and having a good time like the rest of us."_

"_What happened next?"_

"_Well, once we paid we all went our separate ways, I drove Michelle home, and it was about one am by then."_

"_Did you see her enter her house?"_

"_Um," began Zachery looking slightly uncomfortable, "she, uh, didn't go in immediately." Tony gave Zachery a questioning look and after a swift glance at his parents Zachery reluctantly continued. "Well, we got to talking and…other stuff," Zachery said slowly before throwing Tony and throwing a desperate look, he seriously hoped that this cop wasn't going to make him go into any detail. For his part Tony just smirked, he knew what 'other stuff' Zachery was talking about, he could still vividly remember doing all that 'other stuff' with Becky Draisser, to this day watermelon was still his favorite Lipsmacker flavor. _

"_So what happened afterwards?" asked Tony, not missing the relieved look on Zachery's face._

"_She had gotten to her front door by the time I had backed out of the driveway, when I checked the rearview mirror she had just found her key in her bag. You'll find her, won't you?"_

_Tony looked at him for a long time before finally answering. "Yeah, we will."_

--

A redheaded Maggie Bird stared back intently at Tony and Ziva.

"Maggie," Tony began, "Catherine's mother said that she was going to go home with you after choir practice."

"Cathy," Maggie said firmly. "She likes Cathy, not Catherine," she explained.

Tony nodded his understanding. "So Cathy was supposed to come home with you after choir practice?"

"Yeah, she always comes home with me after practice; her parents don't want her coming home to an empty house."

"So you walk here together."

"All the time but today she forgot something in the school so I waited by the swings for her to come back."

"How long did you wait?"

"Fifteen minutes before I asked Mr. Demner if he saw Cathy in the school, he's the one who helped me look for her but we didn't find her. You'll find her, wont you?" asked Maggie staring at Tony with big eyes.

Tony was suddenly transported back ten years to another time, another place and another child asking him if he would find their friend. Years ago he would answer in the affirmative but time had been an exceptionally cruel teacher and taught him that sometimes you didn't find them and sometimes you found them a moment too late.

"We'll do our best."

--

Tim wasn't sure who was more determined to find little Cathy Larsen – Tony or Gibbs. Cases involving children always caused all of them to push themselves to their limits, usually it was only Gibbs pushing himself beyond his limit but something about this case affected Tony enough that he was giving even Gibbs a run for his money. It was day number four since Catherine Larsen had disappeared and while they still had hope that they'd find her alive they all knew that the odds were against it. That particular piece of knowledge made work almost unbearable by the fourth day; Gibbs wasn't the only one who could be a bastard. Taking a moment to stretch the tense muscles in his shoulders McGee let himself relax for five minutes before resuming the computer trace he had been working on all afternoon. Ten minutes after he started working again Tony returned to his desk but McGee didn't say anything, he had already been the victim to Tony's exceptionally sharp tongue once today, he didn't feel like getting verbal whiplash twice in one day.

Tony sighed in frustration, every lead they've had so far ended up being a dead end. The possibility of finding Catherine alive and unharmed disappeared as each day passed. As they updated the Larsens on the status of their daughter's case they kept emphasizing the fact that there was still hope, if they didn't find Catherine soon he wondered how long the Larsens would continue to believe in that hope. Time and experience had taught him that it would go one of two ways, they would never give up hope or they would eventually give up hope of ever finding their child alive and instead resign themselves to a recovery of their child's remains. He wasn't sure which option he hated more.

--

"_DiNozzo, visitors," said Stevens jerking his head towards the door. Tony looked up from the box he was currently filling with the few personal items he had at the station and his heart sank when he saw the visitors._

"_Mr. and Mrs. Nead, please, have a seat," he said gesturing to the two empty chairs near his desk._

"_I heard you were leaving," Tracy Nead said without preamble. _

_Tony nodded. "Effective immediately."_

"_What about our daughter's case?" she blurted out. "You're the lead officer."_

_Tony inwardly flinched at the hurt and accusation evident in Tracy Nead's tone of voice. He had been hoping for a clean break from Philadelphia but it was becoming more and more difficult for that to happen. _

"_Honey, Tracy, please…" began Richard Nead as he tried to calm down his distraught wife. "You'll have to excuse my wife," he addressed Tony, "it's Michelle's birthday today, it's been a hard day for all of us."_

_Tony swallowed thickly and nodded. God, could today get any worse? Stevens had been silently watching the scene unfold. The kid didn't deserve this, he had just gotten out of the hospital two days ago and now Michelle Nead's parents were making him feel worse about leaving that he already was. Deciding that it would just be cruel to let this continue he stepped in before things got too emotionally charged. _

"_Why don't we just take a couple of minutes to calm down? Martha, can get you something to drink," he told the couple calmly. "Martha, could you?" he asked a petite brunette._

"_Of course, follow me please," she said leading the Neads down the hall._

"_Sorry about that man," Stevens said sincerely. "If I had known I would have told them that you weren't in today."_

"_It's okay, they would have found out eventually anyway, better now than later," Tony replied, waving off his concern. Sighing he let himself collapse into his chair trying hard not to flinch as his still on the mend injuries made their presence known. He groaned when he realized that he needed another box, all the spare boxes were located in the closet two floors up. Eying the cane resting at the side of his desk he weighed the effort it would take to get the box against how much he needed the box, he realized that he really did need that damn box and groaned again._

"_It's okay, I can get it, DiNozzo," Stevens said stopping him from getting up and Tony gave him a grateful look._

_Once Stevens had disappeared he opened up the top left drawer and pulled out the Michelle Nead file, opening it up he saw her smiling innocently back at him. "I swear, I will find out what happened to you." _


	4. Chapter 4

_Sorry it took so long, I had a hard time with this particular chapter. Also, trigger warning, this chapter deals with some is some dark material, you'll find it mentioning child abduction, pedophilia, murder and rape but nothing too in depth but it is mentioned in general terms._

_

* * *

_

Louie Dominguez looked relaxed in interrogation room one and McGee almost felt sorry for him—almost. Having the full force of Gibbs' anger bearing down on you during an interrogation in a case involving children was terrifying, it almost seemed cruel to let Gibbs interrogate Dominguez when he was in as black of mood as he was but if Dominguez really did all those things then McGee thought it was only fair.

--

_The break that they had all been waiting for finally came and that is how they ended up searching the house of Louie Dominguez in Woodbridge, Virginia._

"_Gibbs, she is not here," Ziva calls out tersely._

_Gibbs stopped searching through the cabinet in front of him long enough to showcase just how many swear words he learned while in the Corps. "Ziva—"_

"—_Go talk to the neighbors; ask if they have seen a girl recently."_

"_McGee, find me—"_

"—_Dominguez's whereabouts, on it, Boss," he replied before starting a preliminary search of the contents on Dominguez's laptop._

"_Boss, you need to come see this!" Tony's voice rang out from someplace on the first floor and Gibbs quickly abandoned the cabinet in the kitchen and went in search of his senior field agent with Ziva and McGee not far behind him. They found him in the bedroom, a box that he had pulled out from somewhere, the bed or closet probably, on the bed._

"_What've you got, DiNozzo?" demanded Gibbs as soon as he stepped foot into the room. Wordlessly Tony motioned for Gibbs to look in the box and when he did he saw a myriad of items that a young girl or a teenage girl would own. Dominguez had no children, wasn't currently involved with anyone with children or without, didn't have any young nieces or cousins that lived close by and he wasn't the sort of man that people called to babysit their children. Decidedly more interested in the contents of the box than the numerous dried goods Dominguez had in his kitchen Gibbs started to examine the contents of the box more closely. "McGee, photos," he ordered as he reached a gloved hand into the box._

"_Ready, Boss," the younger man said as he positioned the camera._

_He pulled out the first item, a pair of candy colored barrettes, the kind Kelly used to have in her hair when she was younger; McGee dutifully took a picture before Gibbs placed it into an evidence bag. He then pulled out the next item, and then another, soon the only audible sounds were the clicking of the camera shutter, the rustling of the articles in the box and the sealing of said items into evidence bags. Soon ten items had been assembled haphazardly on the bed: a pair of barrettes, a compact, a My Little Pony, a high school student ID, a small purse, a brush for a Barbie doll, a bottle of bright pink nail polish, a pen emblazoned with an E and a fuzzy purple top, a folder containing religious sheet music yellowed by age and a much loved teddy bear. As Gibbs placed his hand into the box he couldn't help the grimace that passed over his face, there were two more items in the box. Glancing at his second in command he could clearly the same grimace on his face, he knew just as well as Gibbs what this collection was shaping up to be. Pulling out the second to last item he saw that it was a cream cardigan, Catherine Larsen had been wearing one when she was last seen. He pulled out the last item from the box, a small gold, heart-shaped locket on a delicate gold chain, opening up he saw the picture of a beautiful young family, all with golden hair. _

"_Boss?" asked Tony. He wordlessly handed the delicate locket to Tony who looked at it just briefly before all the color quickly drained from his face._

--

The door to interrogation banged open and a livid Gibbs was followed by an extremely silent and serious Tony. Without a word Gibbs sat down, flipped open a file before shoving it in Dominguez's direction.

"Cute kid," he said glancing at Catherine Larsen's photo, "what does this have to do with me?"

"We found her prints all over your place, Louie," Tony said leaning into his personal space. "The gig's up, just thought that you should know that it'll only be a matter of time before we find her, game over"

"Oh but the game's only just begun, Agent DiNozzo, you haven't found her yet" Louie drawled out. Gibbs saw Tony's jaw tighten but before he could warn him to keep his cool Tony abruptly stood up and left interrogation, slamming the door with more force than necessary on his way out. Turning his attention to Gibbs he smiled. "Tick tock, tick tock, the clock's ticking."

--

They found her nearly four hours later hidden away under some brush in the Mason Neck National Park, clothes torn and barely alive. The initial ER examination showed evidence of rape. The next time Gibbs and Tony went to interrogate Dominguez McGee didn't feel sorry for him at all.

--

McGee and Ziva watched as Tony and Gibbs entered the room and silently laid out the files of twelve young girls ranging from ages six to sixteen as well as a box containing the collection they found in his house on the table in front Dominguez.

"Do you really think it is wise?" asked Ziva breaking the heavy silence in the observation room.

"What is?"

"Letting Tony interrogate Dominguez," she replied. "He is obviously too close to this one; it has to do with the locket found in the box at Dominguez's house, yes?"

"Gibbs is with him, he'll make sure that Tony doesn't do anything stupid and yes, it does have to do with the locket."

"This is connected to that cold case file from Philadelphia Tony is still working on, yes?"

"It is."

"And you still think it is wise for him to interrogate Dominguez?" she asked giving McGee a pointed look. When he had no answer she smiled thinly before turning her attention back to the interrogation.

--

"I guess congratulations are in order," Dominguez began, leaning back as far as the chair allowed, "you found her faster than I thought you would, such a shame, I can't count her then."

Gibbs felt rather than saw DiNozzo tense up behind him but Tony wasn't his main concern right now. Turning his attention to the files spread out on the table he pointed six-year-old Megan O'Neil's file, the owner of the candy colored barrettes. "Tell me about her," he ordered.

"Oh she was the sweetest thing, believed the entire time that she was really helping look for my lost dog, didn't realize what was going on until it was too late. She had small candy colored hairclips in her hair; she told me that they were her favorite, now they're my favorite."

"What about her?" asked Gibbs pointing to the picture of Elizabeth Warden, age twelve, the owner of the pen with the fuzzy purple top, which he had taken out of the box.

"Not a lot of spunk in that one, she stopped fighting ten minutes in and just kept crying. It was almost a disappointment to kill her," he replied almost wistfully. "She had been holding that pen when I found her and never let go it, even as she took her last breath. She was still warm when I took it."

Gibbs had to restrain himself from hitting Dominguez; he had to let Dominguez to tell him everything about his victims and that certainly couldn't happen if Dominguez was unconscious. Hazarding a quick glance out of the corner of his eye at his senior field agent Gibbs quickly weighed his options and decided that he'd rather deal with DiNozzo's reaction now rather than after having to sit through Dominguez recount the ten other times he had lured or kidnapped young, unsuspecting girls or teenage girls, molested them and then killed them. Steeling himself against what he was about to do he turned his attention to Michelle Nead's file; according to her file the gold locket had been a gift from her parents her last Christmas. Reaching he grasped the evidence bag containing the gold locket and pushed it towards Dominguez. "Tell me about the owner of this locket," he ordered.

"She must have just come back from a dance because she was such a pretty dress and gently swayed to music that only she could hear. I stopped my car right in front of her house and asked for directions to the train station, she went along quietly once she saw the gun I had," he said before leaning back and taking in the two men in front of him. "You know what part I like the best, Agent Gibbs?" asked Louie leaning forward and dropping his voice half an octave as if he was imparting an important secret.

"And what part is that, Dominguez?" demanded Gibbs.

"The look in their eyes when it finally dawns on them that there's no getting out of it. It's this primal look, the look of abject fear. The rush that you get once that look appears is even better than sex."

Before Gibbs could react Tony had forced Dominguez up against the wall with an arm pressed against his throat.

"You son of a bitch," he hissed. "She was only fifteen years old; she had her whole life ahead of her!"

With some effort Gibbs was able to pry Tony off Dominguez and dragged him to the other side of the interrogation room, putting as much distance between the two men as possible.

"Tony!" he said sharply in an effort to get the other man to stop fighting him. "Stand down, do you hear me? _**Stand. Down**_," he barked in a tone reminiscent to the one he used when he was still a gunnery sergeant. The response from Tony was immediate and Gibbs could see echoes of the years Tony spent at Rhode Island Military Academy. Once Tony had completely stopped struggling against Gibbs he quickly pushed his senior field agent out of the interrogation room and were met in the hallway by McGee and Ziva. Ziva looked at her partner with an unreadable expression on her face while McGee looked taken aback by Tony's actions just seconds before. Before Gibbs could say anything Tony escaped his grip and stalked off in the direction of the gym.

"Gibbs…" began Ziva uncertainly.

"Ziva, I want you to get everything about his victims, including where he dumped them, from Dominguez," Gibbs barked.

McGee watched as a dangerous, predatory looked crossed Ziva's face and he's reminded of just how dangerous his co-worker really was.

"Ziva, keep it clean, I don't want him to get off on a technicality or accusations of excessive force, got it?"

McGee saw the slight disappointment in her face before it's gone and replaced with a predatory determination and he thinks that Gibbs' order to keep it legal just made Ziva even more dangerous.

"Where is Agent DiNozzo?" asked Louie Dominguez when Ziva entered the room. "We've only just started playing."

"Agent DiNozzo is busy at the moment," Ziva answered before leaning close to Dominguez so that only he could hear what she says next." But do not worry, I will play," she says in a deadly tone.

--

There were some days when McGee really hated his job. Today was one of those days. After standing with Gibbs in the observation room for nearly three hours listening to Dominguez tell Ziva how he lured or kidnapped all his victims, how he tortured and molested each of them and then how he killed them, down to every last disturbing detail, he now understood why Tony really hated serial killers. Ziva met them in the hallway after Dominguez was escorted back to his cell McGee was only slightly surprised to find the Israeli shaken by what she had just heard; even being a trained assassin couldn't prepare her for the depravity that was Louie Dominguez. Without saying a word she headed in the direction of the gym, with McGee and Gibbs right behind her. McGee suspected that Gibbs was following Ziva because he wanted to see if Tony was still in the gym. McGee was following Gibbs because while he might not admit it out loud he was worried about Tony and worried about the emotional toll this case was taking on his friend.

In the gym they found Tony beating the daylights out of the punching bag, to the side he noticed one of the newer junior agents standing off to the side also watching Tony.

"How long has he been at it?" McGee asked the agent, he thinks the agent's name is Barrow.

"For the past hour and a half, sir," the agent replied. "When he first came down I offered to spar with him, that was a mistake," the agent said wincing slightly and for the first time McGee noticed the beginnings of a black eye on the agent.

"Did Tony give you that?" he asked, indicating the black eye.

"Along with a few other bruises," the agent said, "he's a damn good fighter."

McGee just nods; he forgets sometimes that Tony could be just as dangerous as Ziva or Gibbs. He turns his attention back to Tony just in time to see the other man deliver a particularly vicious punch to the bag before Gibbs stops it and Tony collapses from exhaustion.

"Did the bag do something to offend you, DiNozzo?" asks Gibbs quirking an eyebrow at the man currently on the ground. If Tony said anything McGee didn't hear it, he was too far away, but he does hear Gibbs sigh before helping Tony up. "Shower now," he orders. With the help of McGee they manage to get Tony into the locker room and Gibbs bodily drags the senior field agent into the showers. "You've got fifteen minutes, DiNozzo!" Gibbs yells as he re-enters the locker room. "McGee," he says, finally turning his attention to his one agent that won't be spending any time trying to forget by sparring, beating up a punching bag or trying to break the world record when it comes to miles run on a treadmill. "I need you to start running down the list of locations that Dominguez gave us."

"On it, Boss," he says before leaving Gibbs in the locker room, he knows the team leader will be waiting for Tony, probably so that he can talk to him.

Upstairs McGee is busy doing what Gibbs asked when the man himself returns fifteen minutes later, Tony is not with him. An hour later neither Tony nor Ziva have returned and McGee is all too happy to escape the stifling silence of the squad room for Abby's lab. Abby's lab is suspiciously silent and devoid of Abby but before McGee can call out Abby hurries out of her office, finger on her lips.

"McGee, what are you doing here?" she asks in a hushed voice.

"Um, well, Gibbs wanted to know if you've gotten anything from the items we got from Dominguez's place," he answered in just as quiet of a voice.

"No, not yet but my babies are working on it," she whispered.

"Hey, Abby?"

"Yes, Timmy?"

"Why are we whispering?"

She grabs his hand and leads him to just outside her office and McGee can just make out Tony's lanky frame hidden by a blanket, fast asleep on Abby's futon.

"He's been like that for the past hour," she whispers. "Just tell me one thing, McGee, did Dominguez do it?" she asks turning her full attention to him and he knows that she's just not talking about the Catherine Larsen case, she also asking about Tony's case.

He sighs. "Yeah, Abby, he did."

"Oh, poor Tony," she says sadly. McGee doesn't say anything, just opens his arms and Abby willing goes into them and the two of them stare silently at their friend.


	5. Chapter 5

_So I'm thinking that there will just be an epilogue after this so for those who've been reading, thanks for putting up with the sporadic updates. I had originally intended for this to be a one-shot but it sort of took on a life of its own, as you can obviously see._

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* * *

_

McGee wasn't all that surprised to find Fornell waiting for them in the squad room the next day, Dominguez may have abducted and raped a Naval Commander's daughter but he was also responsible for the abductions, rapes and subsequent deaths of eleven other girls that crossed multiple state lines. Still just because he understood why Fornell was there didn't mean that he had to like it and judging by the looks on Tony and Gibbs' faces they agreed with that sentiment.

"Conference room," Gibbs snapped, not even giving Fornell the chance to say hi, before heading back towards the elevator but not before giving Tony a look that clearly said '_behave_' and McGee and Ziva a look that said '_make sure he doesn't do anything stupid to Sacks_'.

As soon as Gibbs and Fornell had disappeared Tony immediately sat down at his desk, a brooding expression on his face. Out of the corner of his eye McGee saw Sacks open his mouth to say something but quickly closed once he saw the threatening glare that Ziva shot him, Sacks may not have picked up how Tony's body language practically screamed 'leave me the hell alone', or cared going by past interactions between the two, but he apparently had enough self-preservation to not piss off a trained Mossad assassin. Sacks wandered over to the free desk they used for TAD agents in their area and sat down with a sour look on his face, obviously not happy about being at NCIS but really, when was Sacks ever pleased to be at NCIS?

"Do something!" McGee urged Ziva silently after glancing over at Tony who was looking more morose and tense with each passing minute. While McGee had ceased being scared of Tony years ago and could give as good as he got now he still didn't want to try to poke at an angry or tense Tony, that was something that Ziva would do.

'_And what do you expect me to do, McGee?'_ asked Ziva after signing on to AIM.

'_I don't know but we can't just let him stew like that until Gibbs comes back.'_

'_But he is not in the kitchen; he is at his desk working.'_

'_No, I'm not talking about Tony __**making **__stew; I'm talking about his being agitated over the case.'_

'_Well, then say so the next time.' _

"But I did!" he retorted, realizing just a second too late that he had spoken out loud.

"Got something to share with the class, Probie?" asked Tony, raising an eyebrow in McGee's direction.

"No," he responded, the blush rising and he quickly ducked his head in hopes that Tony would just leave it at that. Luckily for McGee Tony didn't say anything else and the four of them were left in that slightly uncomfortable silence until the elevator doors opened and Gibbs and Fornell reappeared.

"DiNozzo," said Fornell pronouncing Tony's last name in that particular way that he liked to do. McGee had once asked Abby if she knew why Fornell pronounced Tony's last name the way he did and she had speculated that it was probably the proper, or close to, way to pronounce it in Italian.

"Fornell," Tony returned before the two of them locked gazes and had what had to be one intense silent conversation if the slight tightening of their jaws was any indication.

"McGee, what've you got?" demanded Gibbs.

"Well, after looking at maps of all the locations I think that these three locations are the most likely, they're all far from main roads and either abandoned or secluded," he said pointing to three locations on the map.

"Why you have these locations circled then?" asked Tony pointing to three other locations on the map.

"They're possibilities but they're not as good as these three," McGee replied, "they're closer to main roads and not as secluded so there's a better chance of discovery but they're also significant to Dominguez so there is that."

"We'll get agents to all six. The Bureau's been chasing this bastard for almost seventeen years, no way are we leaving any stone unturned," Fornell said before moving towards the windows to make the call. "So it's settled, teams are being dispatched to the three possibles," he said after returning to the group, "So that leaves the three most likely locations, McGee, which is the most likely location?"

"That would be this one," McGee replied pointing to a remote location near the Virginia/West Virginia border. "His family is originally from that area and his first victim Megan O'Neil was from there too."

"Okay, that's where we're going. Agent Sacks, you coming?" asked Fornell as he made his way towards the elevator.

Sacks quickly followed his boss but not before throwing a smug grin at Gibbs' team. Gibbs moved to his desk and began to gather his own gear leaving the rest of very confused.

"Boss, what are you doing?" asked Tony.

"What does it look like I'm doing, DiNozzo?"

"But why?"

"You heard Fornell; you plan on waiting for an engraved invitation?"

When he looked he saw his team gathering their gear and for the first time since this whole sordid ordeal started he saw a smile Tony's face, it paled in comparison to the usual DiNozzo smile but it was a smile nonetheless.

--

The ruins of the 1800s farmhouse and surrounding property would probably be fascinating under different circumstances but today Tony couldn't see the historic beauty of the place, all he could see were the ghosts of eleven girls.

"Is that the last of them?" asked Ziva wearily, looking at the newest uncovered set of human remains.

"God, I hope so," blurted out Tony.

Ziva looked at her partner and could see how being here, at the dumping ground, where Michelle Nead probably spent her last living moments was wearing on Tony.

"How are you doing, Tony?" she asked gently.

"I'm fine, Ziva," he snapped before taking a picture of the human skeleton. _'It's so small,'_ he thought idly.

"It has been a hard day for us all," she reminded him, "there is nothing wrong with saying that you could use a break."

"I told you, Ziva. _I. Am. __**FINE**_!" he snarled before walking away.

--

"How long until they positively identify the remains, Duck?"

"Well, with the large number it could take weeks, even months," replied Ducky, addressing the weary group before him. Tony inwardly groaned, why did the universe hate him?

"Is there a 'but' in your explanation, Duck?"

"Actually there is, Jethro, normally the waiting period would be that long but there are a couple of forensic anthropologists that Abigail and I know who have volunteered their time to help the FBI identify the remains."

"How many forensic anthropologists would that be, Ducky?"

"Four and that's not counting any that usually work with the FBI on these types of cases and that could drastically cut down the waiting period as long as they can get all they need to identify the poor souls."

"Now what?"

"Now you go home, DiNozzo. You heard Ducky, even with the outside help it could still be a while and nothing's going to happen tonight so go home people."

--

It was nearly three weeks before they finally got positive proof that one of the eleven skeletons that they had found at that remote location near the Virginia/West Virginia border belonged to Michelle Nead.

Tony was already thoroughly drunk by the time McGee found him.

"McGoo! Take a seat!" Tony exclaimed as McGee stopped him from falling off his barstool.

"Tony, how long have you been here?" asked McGee worriedly after he took a seat.

Tony shrugged his shoulders. "Not long," he slurred, the multiple glasses in front of him disagreed with that statement.

"I think that you've had enough, Tony," McGee replied as he waved off the bartender. "Come on, I'll take you home."

Once in the car Tony seemed content with just staring out the window without really seeing the scenery flying by.

"I failed," Tony said quietly, his words still slurred by the alcohol.

"What?"

"I promised the Neads that I'd find their daughter."

"But you did find her, Tony," he reminded his friend.

"They wanted her alive; I promised that I'd find her alive."

The rest of the ride was made in silence and they made it to Gibbs' house without incident. To McGee's relief Gibbs was waiting for them on his front porch.

"'Lo, Boss," Tony slurred when Gibbs opened up the passenger side door.

"Let's get you inside, DiNozzo," Gibbs said gruffly as he pulled the younger man to his feet and helped steady him as they made the walk into Gibbs' house. Once Gibbs returned to his living room he saw McGee standing there looking almost like a lost little boy. "You're welcome to stay, McGee."

"No, it's okay. Sarah's coming over tonight so I better go."

"Door's always open, McGee," replied Gibbs. Perhaps it was selfish of him but Gibbs was happy that McGee wasn't going to spend the night; he didn't want to be responsible for the emotional well-being of both his agents when he was barely able to deal with his own emotional well-being. He was relieved that McGee had someone outside of the team to turn too when the job just got to be too much.

"I know," McGee said smiling. "Oh yeah, the bar's keeping Tony's car over night."

Gibbs nodded. "Get some sleep, Tim."


	6. Chapter 6

_Okay so I lied, there are apparently two more chapters left, this one and an epilogue._

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_

McGee looked out the passenger side window and as he watched the scenery pass him by he wondered for like the hundredth time what exactly made him want to accompany Tony to Philadelphia.

--

"—_yeah, same to you, Chief," Tony said before replacing the phone to its cradle he then let his head fall into his hands. Tony was glad that the work day was over actually, seeing how it was almost midnight, the work had been officially over for hours, the twinges that had been bothering for the past hour had gone from being annoying to be being a full fledged headache, now he really wished that he had remembered to buy a bottle of aspirin for his desk drawer. He had run out two weeks ago._

"_DiNozzo." Tony looked up to see Gibbs standing in front of his desk._

"_Boss?"_

"_Check in before you leave, when you get there and when you find a room for the night," he said in a voice that said that it was an order, not a suggestion._

"_Got it, Boss."  
_

_Gibbs nodded. "Go home, get some rest, you look like crap."_

_Tony just gave him a lopsided grin that didn't fool him one bit and a small shrug. "Night, Boss."_

_Gibbs watched as his senior field agent collected his things and walked towards the elevator. "If you're not at your desk on Monday at 0700 there had better be a damn good reason," he said right before the elevator doors closed and Tony just gave him a sloppy salute. The door had shut right after that and Gibbs wasn't sure if his agent saw the smile that appeared on his face, Gibbs may not admit it or even know it sometimes he too fell for the DiNozzo charm._

"_Boss?" Gibbs looked up to see McGee standing by his desk so he waited for McGee to say something, anything but that something never came._

"_What is it, McGee?" he snapped growing impatient with his junior agent. It was late and he was tired, all he wanted to do was go home, work on his boat and try not to spend the entire weekend worrying about whatever trouble DiNozzo could get into on his own back in Philadelphia; there was a reason why Philadelphia had been the shortest stint._

"_I'll make sure Tony checks in."_

_Gibbs stared intently at McGee before nodding, he wasn't blind to how the younger man had been there for Tony through out the whole case, he was well aware and grateful for that fact. At first glance it would seem that DiNozzo and McGee didn't have a relationship beyond McGee having the self-control needed to not shoot the senior field agent, and if Gibbs was honest with himself it was kind of touch and go for awhile at the beginning, but over time his agents had grown close and they had developed a relationship that was sibling-like in nature, complete with the ribbing of each other because they could and the over protectiveness when one was threatened. _

_McGee visibly relaxed, he hadn't told Gibbs of his plan to accompany Tony to Philadelphia, he hasn't even told Tony yet, but knowing that their boss approved lifted a weight off his shoulders. Next to Abby, Gibbs was the person who knew and understood Tony the best, getting Gibbs' approval gave McGee the indication that Tony probably wouldn't shut the door on him the moment he told Tony that he'd like to go with him to Philadelphia._

"_Go home, McGee, you've got an early start tomorrow."_

_McGee nodded and was halfway to the elevator before Gibbs' voice stopped him._

"_McGee, if I get a call from the police commissioner for any reason other than the fact that you two were on your best behavior then so help me…" Gibbs said leaving the rest of his threat unsaid._

"_Gotcha, Boss."_

--

Thankfully Tony had not shut the door in his face but he hadn't been the greatest driving companion either so McGee was left to his own devices. As they drew closer to Philadelphia McGee couldn't help but get excited, Tony hardly talked about his time before NCIS, this was McGee's chance to learn something about Tony's past.

"Do you want to get find a motel first or go to the station?" asked McGee, breaking the silence that had permeated the car for almost an hour.

"Station," Tony replied curtly as he directed the car towards the station he hadn't stepped foot in for nearly a decade. Finally after a tense fifteen minutes Tony pulled into a parking lot and stopped the car. "We're here," he said needlessly.

Tony led the way through the station, only pausing shortly at the entrance to say announce himself and to say that he was here to see the chief, and despite having not been in the station for nearly a decade it still felt familiar. He chuckled quietly to himself, he wasn't sure why he had been expecting it to not feel so familiar but he had. Finally, they reached the chief's office and that's when Tony finally turned around to acknowledge McGee.

"Stay here, Tim," he said seriously.

"What? Come on, Tony!" protested McGee. He _did not _come all this way to just stand in the middle of the Philadelphia police station.

"_Please_, Tim," Tony said stopping just short of pleading.

McGee stared at his partner for a full five minutes before finally nodding slowly. He didn't like it and really didn't understand it but he just knew that this was something Tony had to do alone.

"I'll just wait here then."

Tony nodded and after hearing that he was allowed admittance Tony entered the office but before he closed the door he mouthed thanks to McGee. McGee sighed, if Tony's meeting with the police chief was anything like the meetings with metro back home then Tony would be a while. Checking his watch he was only slightly surprised to find that it was just past noon, he wondered where the vending machine was. Thinking that he saw one at the other end of the hallway that they had walked through McGee retraced his steps and out of habit discreetly observed the officers working in the squad room as he passed. He smiled slightly when he realized what he was doing; he has been working with Gibbs, Ziva and Tony for way too long. Once he got himself a snack he made his way back to the main area but stopped at the entrance to look at a plaque on the wall. It was a plaque acknowledging the heroic actions of police officers who went above and beyond the call of duty, they had something similar back at NCIS except theirs was much bigger since it wasn't just for those agents assigned to headquarters, it was for all of NCIS agents regardless of their location. McGee's eyebrows shot up when he came across Tony's name, the date indicated that he had been at the Philly PD for just over a year.

"Damn fool almost got himself killed that time," remarked a voice behind McGee. McGee spun around to find himself face to face with a police officer who looked be to about Gibbs' age, complete with graying hair. "You must be with NCIS," he continued at McGee's inquiring look, "they said at the front desk that two NCIS agents were here and I spied DiNozzo walking through, heard he ended up becoming a fed."

"You knew Tony?" asked McGee; with Tony preoccupied at the moment, this would be his chance to learn something about cop Tony.

"Detective Stevens, major crimes squad," the police detective replied sticking out his hand for McGee to shake, "and yeah, Tony was transferred from the organized crime unit to mine about seven months after he started working here."

"Special Agent Tim McGee," McGee replied. "Tony's never mentioned his time here, ever."

"Doesn't surprise me," replied Stevens with a wry smile as he led McGee to his desk, "when things went to hell they went to hell fast."

McGee felt that there was a story there but he was sure that Stevens wouldn't tell it to him. "You said that Tony almost got himself killed?" he asked inclining his head slightly in the direction of the plaque.

"It was an op gone bad, almost a month and a half of work that nearly went down the drain along. We almost lost the officers working it too if it wasn't for one of them, this young, crazy, bordering on reckless, kid who somehow orchestrated their escape on the fly."

"Tony."

"He was out for almost two months recovering from that," Stevens replied absently. "Pretty much as soon as he got back the Nead case popped up, missing persons was short officers so as one of the most junior officers in the unit he was assigned it."

"So that op wasn't the one that went to hell?" asked McGee curious to see what the elder detective would say about the extenuating circumstances that led to Tony leaving a short eighteen months after his arrival.

"Sure that op went bad fast but that was nothing compared that drug op," Detective Stevens said his eyes darkening and McGee knew that the detective wouldn't be sharing anything about that op. If McGee was honest with himself, he wasn't completely sure that he even wanted to know about that op after seeing how Stevens reacted to the mere mention of it. He's seen that darkness before in the eyes of his teammates when they were reminded of a specific case or op and knew that prodding never went anywhere good. "Well, it looks like Tony's done okay for himself," Stevens continued in an attempt to steer the conversation towards less depressing waters.

"I guess you could say that," McGee replied cautiously, unsure of exactly where this was all going.

Detective Stevens smiled at the agent to put him at ease. He didn't know much about Special Agent McGee but he knew enough to peg the younger man as part of the newer generation of cops that he saw come into the force, they were at ease with technology than those of his generation but unsure when faced with the people aspect of the job. It didn't make them bad officers but it usually meant that when faced with the darker side of the job they were green for a lot longer because machines and technology were overwhelmingly more logical than people ever were.

"When Tony arrived here at Philly he was young, just twenty-six, cocky, often overly reckless but also bright, intuitive and damn good at his job. That was the most maddening thing about DiNozzo, for all the excessively reckless stunts he might pull, he also showed so much promise and often found the key to help solve the most frustrating cases. Always thought that he could make detective before he hit thirty if he didn't manage to get himself killed first. I guess someone was able to curb his reckless tendencies, god knows I got enough gray hairs trying."

"Yeah, someone has," replied McGee.

--

"_Timmy!" cried Abby engulfing him into a hug the minute he walked into her lab. "I'm so glad you're okay!"_

_Still trying to process the series of events McGee let Abby lead him to her office and didn't even protest when she practically pushed him into her chair. _

_Abby dropped down to a crouch so that she was level with McGee and frowned when she noticed how much paler he was than usual. "McGee," she said softly getting his attention, "what happened?"_

_McGee proceeded to tell her about the lead that Tony had found and then how things had gone downhill almost immediately once they reached the Gilmore property just outside Blacksburg, Virginia. _

"_How could Tony do something so reckless? I mean, he could have been killed!"_

_Abby gave him a sympathetic smile before answering. "That, my dear Timmy, is nothing; you should have seen him when he first started working here."_

"_You can't be serious."_

"_But I am, McGee. Two months after Tony started working here there was a hostage situation and he managed to convince the Marine Sergeant that he would make for a better human shield than his wife and their six-year-old son."_

"_You're kidding me."_

"_Nope."_

"_How'd he get out of that one?"_

"_Gibbs took the shot," Abby replied with a smile._

--

"That's good," Stevens replied smiling and for the first time McGee got a glimpse of the man Detective Stevens must have been Tony first arrived at Philadelphia.

The door to the chief's office and the two looked over to see Tony shaking hands with an elderly man with dark hair peppered with grays. Tony let his gaze sweep over the room until it landed on the corner that held Detective Stevens' desk and then he smiled.

"DiNozzo, it's good to see you kid," the older detective said getting up and engulfing him in a hug.

"It's good to see you too, Stevens," Tony said smiling and returning the hug. "How's Vicky?"

"Still complaining that I work too much but otherwise good, how long will you be in town for?"

"Not long, just the weekend," he replied.

"It's about the Nead case, isn't it?"

The smile in Tony's eyes was immediately gone and in its place was the shuttered look that McGee was all too familiar with now.

"It's your bottom drawer case, we all have," Steven said sympathetically with a knowing look as he saw Tony's expression go from happy and open to closed and blank. "Just…just don't let another decade go by before you visit again, okay? There's no need to be a stranger," he said extending his hand.

"Got it," Tony replied warmly though the closed off look didn't completely leave his eyes.

McGee said his goodbyes to Detective Stevens and followed Tony out into the bright afternoon light. Tony didn't speak until he maneuvered the car out of the parking lot.

"We're making one more stop before finding a motel if that's okay with you."

"Sure, Tony," McGee replied quietly.


	7. Chapter 7

_So this is the end of my first attempt at writing something other than a one-shot or a collection of one-shots for NCIS. Thank you for putting up with my sporadic updates, hope you enjoy._

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The Neads' house was located in an upper middle class neighborhood of Philadelphia, the kind seen on Desperate Housewives. As they made their way silently up the walkway and past the well-manicured front lawn McGee could just make out a tree house hidden by the leaves of the ancient oak tree, it must have been built for Michelle when she was younger.

"Do they know?" asked McGee once they were standing on the front porch.

"The Chief told them that there were new developments in their daughter's case and that someone would be over today to tell them."

"Do they suspect?"

"It's been ten years, McGee, what do you think?" Tony replied before knocking on the front door.

The door was answered a man who looked to be sixty but McGee knew that Richard Nead was only fifty-two.

"Mr. Nead?" asked McGee stepping forward after seeing how hesitant Tony was.

"Yes, do I know you?"

"Special Agent Tim McGee, NCIS," he said showing his ID.

"Never heard of it," Richard Nead replied and stepped back to close the door.

"Naval criminal investigative service," Tony said finally stepping into Richard's line of vision.

"Officer DiNozzo," Richard said as recognition dawned on him, it had been ten years since he had seen the man and in that time the man he remembered as Officer DiNozzo had matured into the man standing before him today.

"It's actually Special Agent DiNozzo now," Tony replied. "Can we come in? There's something we have to tell you."

"Yes, of course, come in," he replied stepping back and allowing the two agents entrance and leading them down a short hallway to the living room. "Let me go get Tracy, make yourselves comfortable," he replied before disappearing and leaving the men to their own devices.

McGee took the opportunity to surreptitiously glance at the various pictures displayed prominently in the living room. Not surprisingly the majority of the pictures were of Michelle, there was one of her as an infant, toddler Michelle in baby ballet class, an older Michelle at a violin recital, a picture of Michelle before what had to be her first high school dance and, of course, the numerous school portraits. Michelle may have been gone for ten years but she still featured prominently in her parents' lives and McGee's heart sank at the realization that he and Tony were going to confirm the Neads' worst nightmare.

For his part Tony was too busy steeling himself for the conversation that they were just about to have to notice McGee's covert attempts to study all the pictures of Michelle that were displayed. He had seen them all before and had no care to see them again; it was just a cruel reminder of his failure. He hated notifications with a passion.

When Tracy Nead appeared, McGee was struck by the uncanny resemblance she shared with her deceased daughter. True, the picture of a twenty-five-year-old Michelle Nead had been an age progressed composite image but as Sandra, one of the main resident sketch artists back at NCIS, often reminded him, while creating age progressed photos was definitely an art there was also a fair amount of science and math involved. A good sketch artist was able to draw portraits that closely matched what subjects actually looked like years down the line.

"Agent DiNozzo, Agent McGee," Tracy addressed the two men sitting on her couch, "my husband told me that you had something to discuss with us."

"We do," Tony replied solemnly. "It's about Michelle."

"It's been ten years, Agent DiNozzo," Tracy, pointed out.

"I'm well aware of that, Mrs. Nead," Tony replied calmly and professionally, giving the impression that being reminded of that fact did not bother him at all but McGee saw the slight twitch of his hand that indicated that Tony was just barely keeping it together.

"What possible news could NCIS have about Michelle?" asked Richard Nead, "our family has no immediate connections with the navy."

"She's dead, isn't she? Our baby's dead, isn't she, Agent DiNozzo," Tracy Nead said in a low monotone voice from her seat across from the two agents.

"Yes, I'm sorry," Tony replied quietly before dropping his gaze, he did not want to see how the faces of Richard and Tracy Nead crumbled as he confirmed their worst fear, he'd seen it numerous times before, there was no need to see it again.

"How?" asked the couple obviously distraught over the news. The possibility that Michelle was already dead had always been with them and friends, family, and the Philadelphia Police Department had told them that they had to be prepared for that outcome, especially as time had dragged on but it was one thing to prepare yourself to hear the worst it was another thing completely to actually have the worst possible outcome come true.

"Strangled by Louie Dominguez, a drifter originally from a remote area of Virginia; Michelle was one of eleven victims," the senior field agent replied in the same quiet voice.

"Did she suffer?" asked Tracy as she fought to keep from completely breaking down.

McGee watched as Tony tensed knowing that the older man was currently wrestling with what to tell them. Tony had not been there to personally hear Dominguez go into great and extremely graphic detail about just what he did to each of his victims, McGee, unfortunately, had been there to bear witness and it had taken three nights of very stiff drinks as well as an impromptu visit with Annie Lester, a psychiatrist employed by NCIS, before McGee could go to sleep and not hear the screams or see their faces. Still, McGee knew that Tony had watched the tape of the interview later on because he remembered Alan Combs', one of the sound techs who worked in the observation room and was a friend of Tony's, panicked phone call to Gibbs, he had agreed to stay with Tony while the agent watched the recording of Dominguez's interrogation and the technician had become alarmed as Tony had gotten agitated to the point of violence as he watched the recording. So despite not being there to hear Dominguez admit it in person Tony knew that Dominguez had repeatedly raped and tortured Michelle over the period of two days before he killed her and unfortunately, her death had not been quick, if the testimony of one Louie Dominguez was anything to go by. McGee was willing to bet all his book royalties that Tony wanted to tell the Neads that their daughter had not suffered and that her death was quick but that knew that he couldn't because the truth would come out in the trial so telling them lies in the hope of protecting them now would just cause so much pain later on.

"When can we bury our daughter, Agent DiNozzo?" asked Richard gruffly, the lack of answer to his wife's question told Richard that his daughter's death and ordeal were neither quick nor without suffering.

"As soon as our ME releases her body," McGee jumped in quickly seeing as Tony was still wrestling with his own knowledge of what befell Michelle after she was abducted.

Which will be when?" asked Richard wearily.

"Soon, I promise you that," replied Tony firmly.

--

Just three short weeks later McGee once again found himself accompanying Tony to Philadelphia, this time the other man didn't even act remotely surprised to find McGee waiting on his doorstep.

This time instead of visits to the police station and Michelle Nead's childhood home, they were situated in the hall adjacent to the St. Mark's Episcopal Church, the church she had been baptized in, for a memorial service. He didn't recognize most of the people apart from the few officers he met during their brief stop over at the Philadelphia Police Station but that wasn't surprising, he had only been on the case for around two months, and Tony had been on the case for ten years.

Tony glanced around as people filed into the hall, recognized many of the young twenty somethings as Michelle's former classmates and couldn't help but feel just a but old as he saw that the fourteen, fifteen and sixteen-year-olds that he had interviewed all those years ago had become twenty-four-twenty-five, and twenty-six respectively, all when he wasn't looking. Five minutes before the start of the ceremony the entrance of one particular young man caught his attention, it was Zachery Durhan, all grown-up. Gone was the gangly and awkward, quiet teenager and in his place was a confident young man full of promise. Just before the start of the ceremony Zachery and his companion, a redhead, found two seats and Tony caught a glimpse of something gold and sparkly when his companion snaked her left arm across this shoulders. He couldn't help the pang of sadness that overcame him as he took in her now grown up classmates and her former boyfriend who was now engaged because Michelle should be there, she should be grown up and have the chance to get married but that would never be. Shaking himself out of his thoughts Tony turned to the screen to focus his attention on the montage of pictures of Michelle as she grew up with her favorite song playing in the background.

--

Tony stared at the official document he held in his hand, after almost two long and grueling months since Dominguez's arrest it was finally over, the jury had returned with their verdict, guilty on all counts, the judge had given out the sentence, life sentences for each victim to be serve consecutively. All he had to do was place that document into Michelle's case file and write closed on the status line and her case would be officially closed. Before he put the certificate in the front of her file his eyes fell on a picture tucked away and partly hidden by papers, it was taken the night she disappeared.

--

"_Mom, dad, please!" begged a fifteen-year-old blond Michelle._

"_Just one more picture, Michelle, please," Tracy begged._

_For her part Michelle huffed and looked completely put upon but complied with her mother's wish. "Fine."_

"_With the both of you, stand right next to her, Zach…there, that's it!"_

"_Say cheese you two!"_

_The two teenagers smiled and after two separate flashes, each parent got a picture._

"_Have fun, don't stay out too late," instructed Richard._

"_Thanks, dad, love you," replied Michelle as she went over to give her father a peck on the cheek._

"_Love you too, sweetie."_

"_Bye mom, love you."_

"_Good bye, honey, I love you."_

--

"I am so sorry," he whispered before he closed the lid and replaced her box on the shelf in the completed cases closet.


End file.
